Press Releases

Contemplative Higher Education Network Launches at Naropa University
National interest in learning philosophy focuses on Naropa once more

BOULDER, Colo.(September 12, 2006)—At Naropa University on September 28, 2006, University of Colorado professor Peter Schneider and Naropa University professor and former president Barbara Dilley will headline the inaugural event of the Rocky Mountain Contemplative Higher Education Network with a presentation titled “Creating Contemplative Space in the University Classroom.”

Organized by the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education (CACE) at Naropa University, RMCHEN invites faculty throughout Colorado who are interested in exploring the ways that contemplative practice—such as Eastern arts disciplines aikido, t’ai chi and sitting meditation—can enrich university research, teaching, administration, and campus life.

Susan Burggraf, Associate Professor of Contemplative Psychology and Faculty Director of CACE at Naropa University, said, “There’s a growing national movement among higher ed faculty to incorporate contemplative methods of looking inward to complement other modes of inquiry in their teaching.”

Burggraf taught for more than a decade at Mount Holyoke and Bowdoin Colleges. She is currently researching assessment of contemplative curricula outcomes using a developmental lens.

Dilley is a professor in the Performing Arts at Naropa University where she created the dance program beginning in 1974 and currently teaches contemplative dance and creative process. She served as President of Naropa from 1984-93. She has choreographed and performed solo and group works nationally and in Europe.

Schneider currently teaches architectural history, theory and design at the Boulder and Denver campuses of the University of Colorado. He is a 1997 recipient of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society Contemplative Practice Fellowship Award.

CACE is supported by a grant from the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism.

Accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies.

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“Creating Contemplative Space in the University Classroom”
Thursday, September 28, 6:00 pm
Shambhala Hall
Naropa University
2130 Arapahoe Ave.
Boulder , Colorado

Contact:

Jane Rubinstein
Director, Marketing & Communications
Naropa University
PH 303-245-4643
FAX 303-245-4676
Jrubinstein@naropa.edu